


Love You Too Much

by umaspirateship



Category: Descendants (2015)
Genre: Lumiere is done with your nonsense, Multi, Post-Descendants 2, Uma has awesome magic, badguys aren't badguys at all, different POVs, unreliable narrators, your problematic favs try family
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-07-26
Updated: 2017-07-26
Packaged: 2018-12-06 12:24:51
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,991
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11600589
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/umaspirateship/pseuds/umaspirateship
Summary: "Royal Decree No. 34:All villain kids are to be gradually brought over to Auradon..."Except nobody told the kids on the Isle, and now Harry and Gil are panicking as they try to stay together. Meanwhile, Uma struggles to reunite with her crew and Ben struggles to do what's best for his country. Lumiere is just tired of half-assed plans.





	Love You Too Much

**Author's Note:**

> Nobody in this fic is expected to be perfect or kind or good, they grew up on eviltown trash island, after all, and are constantly let down by the incompetent Auradon government. But they love each other, and sometimes that's good enough.

**Love you too much**

 

 

_Royal Decree No. 34:_

_All villain kids are to be gradually brought over to Auradon. In order to make sure that the kids make the best transition possible, Auradonian families are advised to open their hearts and homes to children in need of a place to stay._ _My office is open to all Auradon citizens who want to discuss the policy._

_Signed,_

_King Ben_

 ----

     And so it began. One by one, royal servants hand-delivered letters to hopeful Isle kids and brought them over by limousine. The families who’d been against the Isle from the start flooded the castle with requests for their enemies children to come live with them. (Some refused to host anyone. Mal liked to graffiti their castles after she finished her homework).

     The decree was, well, glitchy.

     It wasn’t finding royals to take them in that was the problem, no. But… the villain kids had no say in when they’d be brought over, or who’d come with them. The king, of course, had no idea this was a problem. Ben was the kind of person who immediately understood a person after talking to them for five minutes, but he hadn’t visited the Isle himself since the decree had been issued, too busy entertaining complaining royals and visiting dignitaries. Plus, he figured, if the letters are being sent and kids are coming over, the decree must be working.

     No one on the Isle would be sad to leave because they didn’t have anyone to miss, King Beast had said when he observed the success of integrating Evie’s original list of VKs. Ben, for the most part, agreed with him.

     Mal _did_ say that no one dated there (which he still didn’t really understand – he’d seen the way she’d looked at Evie, Uma, Harry… the list went on). Lonnie told him that their parents didn’t even love them (and his conversation with Uma had led him to believe the same). And, judging by the fearsome foursome’s rough road to friendship, even having a squad you could count on wasn’t that common either.

     It never occurred to Ben that the VKs would want to stick together. That maybe some of these kids were already loved. They’d all come over eventually, he thought, so it didn’t really matter. (The Isle hadn’t heard. One day, they woke up, and Dizzy was gone. It all went downhill from there.)

     So, when he remembered the cheerful face of Gil, the son of his father’s enemy, Ben didn’t think twice about bringing him to the Isle.

\----

     “Is Gil somewhere around here?” Lumiere asked, clearing his throat. It was already awkward enough wandering around the Isle in his bright yellow suit looking for the latest batch of VKs, but this time the ex-candelabra was trapped wearing his duck suit in the bowels of Uma’s ship. She wasn’t there. Hadn’t been there, in fact, since the final battle, and the pirates had taken to fixing up the ship in her absence. Lumiere had assessed the damage before going in, and without proper supplies, it’d take an eternity to fix, but judging by the distraught look on the pirates’ faces nobody seemed to care.

     “Who’s asking?” asked a pirate dressed in red, hook covering one of his hands. He leaned casually against the wall, crossing his arms and trying to make himself more intimidating.

     “King Ben, sir,” said Lumiere, raising a single eyebrow at his behavior. He’d seen every scare tactic in the book at this point. “He’s sent a message for Gil.”

     Everyone froze. Once the battle had ended and the king had made good on his promise to Evie, the yellow suits and luxuriously stamped letters had become infamous around the Isle.

     “I don’t know what I’m more afraid of,” kids would whisper to each other in the streets as the limousine drove through the barrier for the third time that week, “That I’ll have to go, or that I’ll be the one left behind.”

     “You can’t have him!” shouted the boy, shoving his hook under Lumiere’s chin. “You can’t, it’s not fair. You already took her, you can’t take him too.”

     “Captain,” muttered a henchman from the side, “This a code red, right?”

     “Yes, right, of course,” the boy in red replied, grinning madly, “Get him to safety, or I’ll hook all of you.”

     Lumiere just sighed. He wasn’t going to push the matter, not without backup.

     “You know the King is going to make me come back, right?” he said, tucking away the invitation.

     “Fine. And when I return you with scars on your face, and he asks you to come back for Gil? What will you tell him then?”

     “I won’t leave innocent children on this Isle,” Lumiere replied stubbornly, “Not now that I can do something about it.”

     Harry would’ve tried to threaten Lumiere some more, but these days he was just tired. He missed Uma, and, now that Gil had escaped to safety, he had no reason to stall. The pirate captain (who was really more of a first mate, but you did what you had to in poor circumstances) waved his hook and two pirates grabbed Lumiere’s arms and dragged him off the ship.

     They decided tolet him escape in his limo, windows shattered and chocolate stolen, but unharmed. Harry watched Lumiere from the galley. Slowly, the limousine drove towards the other side of the island, disappearing amidst the shamble of houses. Harry glanced back at the table, spreading extra-wicked sauce onto a stack of sandwiches he’d made with what little supplies they’d managed to gather – Gil was bound to be hungry by now. He had to go find him.

\----

     Gil didn’t come home much, anymore. After he’d joined Uma’s crew, his dad had been angry (and angrier when she’d lost, left him and Harry standing there, in shock, feeling so alone).

     The ship had become his home, anyways.

     “Is Gil somewhere around here?” The straight-backed, strange yellow man had asked. Gil’s head whipped around and he dropped his paint brush. It’d been his idea to fix the place up, for Uma’s sake, but he knew he should’ve just lain low… now they’d come for him. That’s what they were saying, around the Isle. Do something good for those you love and they’ll take you from them. To Auradon, where even Mal, who’d had her whole family with her, hadn’t felt like she fit in.

     Most people scoffed. They were villains! They didn’t love anyone!

     But when Gil thought of Harry’s smile or Uma’s eyes or the way his heart felt when they’d picked _him_ for their crew…. Well, he knew better.

     “Who’s asking?” Harry had roared, stepping in front of Gil. _Oh, no._ _They’ll take him next, he can’t, Harry’s been so cruel, since Uma’s been gone… can’t love him, can’t_ _leave_ _him…_

     If you loved someone enough, on the Isle, you’d be taken from them. It was the rule. And now, Harry’s heart was shining bright on his sleeve, and if Gil took his eyes off of him for one second he’d be gone and he’d never come back and Gil would be alone alone like alone like

     “Get him AWAY,” Harry begged, pushing Emilia, their newest recruit, towards Gil. Gil sucked in a breath. No! He hadn’t been listening, and now...

     Code red meant he had to hide in his dad’s house. It was easier for Junes and Third to lead the Auradon people on a wild goose chase, that way. It was the kind of plan Harry and Uma had made without consulting him. The last they checked, he’d been on good terms with his family. Harry and Uma wouldn’t have come up with the plan if they didn’t think that Gaston still cared about him, a little bit. But the last time he’d seen his dad, a door had been slammed in his face.

     It took all his effort, and a sharp shove from Emilia, to get him to knock on the door. The sound of a dozen locks turning came from within.

     “Dad,” Gil whispered, holding the small suitcase Harry had made him pack just in case.

     “Gil,” murmured Gaston, pulling his son into a hug. “Oh, I thought they’d got you. I thought you were gone, I’m so sorry.”

     Inside, his brothers stood in their shabby kitchen, cleaning mildew off of a bucket of raw eggs.He dumped his stuff by the door, and was gently pushed inside by Gaston.

     "You can stay in my room,” said Third, glancing up for a moment. “Lefou and his kid have moved in since the kidnappings have started, so your room is kinda occupied.”

     “What’s going on?” asked Gil, in shock. The house was looking brighter than it had his whole childhood. The cupboards were stocked. Lefou was actually… talking to his dad? That was new. He’d always assumed his dad had messed up too badly for that.

     Junes sighed. “I don’t know man, all of a sudden people started disappearing, right? Snatched up by the Auradon police. Which you know, obviously.”

     Gaston broke in, “After the incidents started, I realized that I needed to keep a closer eye on you guys. And… when I stopped looking at myself for a second, I realized what a dump I’d let this place become.”

     Lefou nodded, “I can’t let them take my kid. I love him too much… to be honest, I was getting desperate. Gaston is still the best muscle on the island, so I figured...”

     “They can’t snatch you up if you’re all together,” Junes finished. “So if you love someone you keep them close. That way if you go, nobody gets left behind.”

     Gil staggered a bit, understandably confused by the turnaround.

     “L-love?”

     “Course, kid,” Gaston laughed (not the cruel laugh of a man courting Belle, but the gentle laugh of a man riding through the countryside with his best friend). “You should know better than any of us. You knew before it started happening. You found Uma and Harry, as much as I hated you for it.”

     “Uh, thanks?” Gil said, “But isn’t that why they’re taking people? Because they loved too much?”

     “That’s just a rumor,” assured Junes. “Don’t listen to that –”

     A knock came from the door.

\----

     So, unlike Harry had thought when the limo pulled away from the docks, Lumiere did not return to Auradon. Lumiere was stubborn, when he had to be, and knew that the pirate would have sent Gil off-ship to somewhere safer. He’d already checked the markets, the Fish and Chips shoppe, and a dozen alleyways before the sun had even thought of setting. The villains, for whatever reason, seemed to flee in his presence, which made it much easier to investigate.

     Eventually, as it was a small island and Lumiere was a fast walker, he came across a small house labeled, “Home of the Infamous Gaston, Beast Slayer!” Underneath, a small note read, “This technically true statement has been approved by Evil Deeds Inc. TM, verifier of all frightening claims.”

     Lumiere took a deep breath and knocked on the door. If he’d been younger, his legs would probably be shaking in their fancy yellow pants, but he’d been a servant of King Beast too long to be frightening by large, angry, yelling figures.

     Immediately, whispers broke out inside.

     “Keep the doors locked,” said a teenager that Lumiere couldn’t identify, “It could be...”

     “We’ve got everyone here,” pleaded another voice. Lefou. That was odd… Lumiere didn’t realize that he’d been sentenced to the Isle too. The things you miss when King Beast distracts all of Auradon with a new “No Magic” policy almost five minutes after banishing all the villains to the Isle.

     “Dad,” added another teen, “You don’t have to prove yourself. Don’t open the door. If you keep it closed they’ll leave...”

     “I won’t stand for anyone threatening my family,” roared a new voice. Gaston. The sound of his voice still loomed in Lumiere’s nightmares.

     “They’ll just come back with more people,” Lefou added calmly.

     “I will tear apart whole armies to keep you safe,” Gaston said, yelling louder and louder until his voice could be heard up and down the Isle’s cracked streets.

     The locks on the other side of the door clicked, and Lumiere ran.

\----

     “Seriously,” Harry said, grabbing the arm of the yellow man with his hook as he fled, “I thought I told you to get lost? What are you doing on our turf?”

     “My job,” huffed Lumiere, pulling at his sleeves until the wrinkles rearranged themselves. “You can’t deter me, you know.”

     Harry tried to punch him but realized his hand was full of sandwiches. Typical.

     “If you come back again...” Harry threatened, his eyes glancing briefly to Gaston’s house. He shifted slightly to place himself between Lumiere and the cottage door.

     Lumiere just shrugged, turning away. “Don’t worry. I won’t make the mistake of coming alone next time.”

     Harry’s heart sank.

\----

     Uma may have lost the final battle, but in her mind, she hadn’t lost anything. She was free from the Isle and she had _magic_. Could go back and get her boys and they would form a city on the coast somewhere, in some forgotten cove. When she’d swum away that night, she’d dreamt of bigger plans.

     But she couldn’t change back. She realized that when she stopped to get something to eat from a fishing boat on the shores of Charmington. Her necklace glowed briefly with magic power, but her tentacles remained. She didn’t understand. Her mom, when she was free and all powerful, could change into human form at will.

     “Give me some fish,” Uma had been forced to ask, politely, as she loomed above the fishermen in her monstrous form. “Cooked, if you please. I’ve used a lot of energy today and I can’t digest things raw.”

     She’d wanted to roar and make the ocean crack with lightning when they refused, but she didn’t have time to battle it out with Mal right now. She had to get back to her boys.

     So she starved, trying to turn back. Trying to use her magic to take down the dome, to get back home to her pirate ship and her crew and make everything all right. She thought of Gil’s constant loving smile, even when she threw him out of the shop, of the way Harry’s laugh made her forget another bad day at work.

     It had been a month, and she wasn’t getting anywhere. She’d pounded at every inch of the barrier but it didn’t budge. Her magic stopped working and the raw fish she managed to catch in the ocean by herself weren’t enough to get her by. Help. That’s what she needed. Her giant form rose out of the sea in front of King Ben’s castle and the nation screamed.

     She couldn’t hear them over the beating of her heart.

\----

     When Ben heard that a monster was looming on the shore of the beach, his first thought had been _Maleficent_. But no, Mal’s mom was still stuck in lizard form in the terrarium in Mal’s dorm room. He’d been there yesterday afternoon when he’d brought her the easel she’d ordered. So. Not Maleficent, dragon form or otherwise.

     “Ben, update about the situation on the shoreline,” said Lonnie, pausing in the doorway, “It’s not a monster, like we thought. Not really.”

     “Well, what is it?”

     “It’s Uma.”

     Ben closed the book he’d been reading, his eyes flitting towards the window. He saw the small, octopus-shaped sea witch arguing with some students on the shoreline.

     “Well?” Lonnie prompted, “You want us to do anything about it? We’ve got archers stationed along the main plaza and on top of the castle. She’s in range.”

     “Do you think I should?”

     “Not really,” Lonnie said, sitting in the plush chair across from him. She relaxed a bit, but her hand stayed gripped on the hilt of her sword. “She’s been gone for a month, she’s not attacking, and she seems like she wants to talk to you. Not sure why she decided to do it as a giant octopus, but I can’t really judge.”

     “I’m going to go down and talk to – ”

     A sharp, orderly rapping sounded at the door. It was Lumiere. The frustrated man, without waiting for permission, yanked the door open and walked in.

     “I’m tired of this!” he said, throwing his hands in the air.

     “Oh, don’t worry about it,” Ben reassured, “I’m going down to deal with it right now.”

     “Ha, like he’ll listen to you anymore. They’re being impossible! Don’t they understand we’re trying to help them? All of my windows were broken this time. You have to give me backup or there is no way this is going to work.”

     Ben paused. “You know, Lumiere, I think we’re talking about different things.”

     “What? I was talking about the Isle of course. What were you talking about?”

\----

     “Uma,” King Ben said, approaching the girl. The ocean lapped at his expensive shoes as he waved at her. “What are you doing here?”

     “Well, I couldn’t very well go back,” snarled Uma. “The barrier is back up and my magic isn’t working properly. I can’t even turn back into a human, _and_ I haven’t eaten anything other than raw fish in weeks.”

     “I’m so sorry,” Ben said, “You should have said something earlier. I’m bringing all of the villain kids over to Auradon, you know. Like I promised. I could go get Fairy Godmother if you wanted? She could turn you back?”

     Ben motioned over his shoulder where Fairy Godmother was fruitlessly trying to get students to head back to class. Uma paid her no mind.

     “That’s nice, fruitcake,” said Uma, “But I want some proof of your good will. Did you bring any of my pirate crew over? I want them to vouch for you.”

     “ _You_ came asking for _my_ help!” laughed Ben, surprised. “But sure, no big deal. Lumiere! I asked you to bring over Gil two days ago.” He turned back to Uma. “You would trust Gil, right?”

     “Gil?” she said, startled. “He’s here? He’s been here for… two days? Please, I need to see him. Make sure he’s okay. Then Fairy Godmother can cast her spell on me, I don’t care.”

     “That’s...” Lumiere grumbled, “Just what I wanted to talk to you about, your majesty. I couldn’t find him.”

     “What do you mean, couldn’t find him?” Uma said, growling. “It’s not like the Isle is that big.

     “It’s that pirate captain who lives in the ship? The one they’re repairing? I don’t know his name. He started threatening me the second I asked for Gil. They had an escape plan set up the whole time, “Code Red” or something. I don’t know. I didn’t have a chance.”

     Uma growled, and suddenly all of the magic contained in the shell burst and soaked into her skin, like a hurricane of fairy dust decided to give her a hug. The waters churned with her anger. Fairy Godmother didn’t have to do any pleading as the student body immediately ran as far back as humanly possible. When the storm cleared, Uma was a foot away from Ben, back in human form. Her eyes crackled gold like pirate’s treasure hidden away on the ocean floor.

     “Code red,” she said, summoning a sword from the seashells around her feet, “Is only to be used if Gil is in great danger. I know. Harry and I invented it. Also, my pirates are clearly a mess. Anyone with sense can tell that our ship was shipwrecked and that there is no way, without Auradon tools, it could be repaired. Harry? A captain? As if. He’s a good leader, but he wears his heart on his sleeve.”

     “I wouldn’t say that you’re less emotional,” Lumiere remarked. He was covered in water and figured his day couldn’t get worse at this point.

     “Do you want to know another thing Harry and I have in common? We’re both crazy!”

     And she lunged, throwing her sword right towards Ben’s heart.

\----

     “Stop!” yelled Gil, watching the television in Ursula’s Fish and Chips Shoppe. Naturally, the event was airing on one of the only two channels that made it through the barrier, and the whole crew had gathered around to watch.

     “She’s going to get herself hurt,” whispered Harry, clutching onto his hook with a white-knuckled grip. “We have to do something, I can’t watch.”

     “Actually, I have an idea,” Junes said, jumping into their conversation.

     They looked to where Gaston Jr. sat in the back of the room. After the whole Lumiere incident, Gaston demanded thateveryone would travel in groups of at least three. His dad had graciously allowed Harry to count as one, and Junes had drawn the short straw and was forced to third wheel. He wasn’t as smart as third, but he was more impulsive, so Gil trusted his instincts. That’s why, when Junes suggested that they gather all of Mal’s leftover spray-paint and asked for somebody to take down the _Revenge’s_ large canvas sail, Gil didn’t hesitate.

\----

     Right as the tip of her sword pressed into Ben’s chest, Uma let up.

     “I won’t kill you now. Or ever I don’t want to hurt you. Well, I do. I recognize that you’re trying to be helpful but you’re not. But I need to get home, and I need your help to do it, so we’ll ignore that for now.”

     Ben stepped back. “I don’t understand.”

     “Understand what?” Uma asked, still shimmering a little where the magic had landed over her skin.

     “I thought you hated the Isle? Why do you want to go back?”

     She tilted her head and scrunched up her eyebrows. “Who said I was talking about the Isle?”

     “You said you wanted to go home? I’m sorry, I just assumed that all of you Villain Kids have some attachment to the Isle. Mal wanted to go back, after all, and Gil is trying hard to stay hidden for _some_ reason.”

     “You really are oblivious aren’t you?”

     “Oblivious?”

     “The Isle isn’t my home. Hasn’t been my home in a long time.”

     Ben glanced up at something strange that was happening off in the distance. A huge ship had sailed in front of the Isle. It was the cargo ship that brought the Isle it’s shipments of the latest gunk, except it looked a little bit different. Instead of the normal slime and muck, a huge canvas sheet hung off the side. In bright blue, the huge, jagged words were unmistakable.

_We Ride With the Tide_

 

     King Ben finally understood. He smiled a bit and said, “I think I see what you mean. The Isle isn’t your home.” He pointed at the huge sign and Uma turned around, her eyes widening.

_"They are.”_

     And Uma, finally, after a childhood of neglect and trying to find love in a mother who didn’t care, after years of trying to gain respect from people who only saw her as “shrimpy,” after a month of starving and suffering,

     Uma finally let herself cry.

\----

_Royal Decree #35,_

_No Villain Kid shall be separated from their family without their consent, conventional or not, unless aforementioned citizen is in an abusive situation. No, royals, I do not care if this makes them “more dangerous.” Personally, I have found that I am more dangerous when I make decisions alone, without using love to understand others._ _I discovered that when I asked “Auradon Citizens” for their critiques, I left out one important group – the VKs themselves._ _The lack of love is always curable. But sometimes it does not need to be cured. And that is why the No Villain Kid Left Behind policy will be immediately providing homes to all Villain Kids without separating them from the people they care about. Let Auradon be the place of love that it has always declared itself to be._

_Yours in both Regret and Hope,_

_King Ben_

 

 

 

**Author's Note:**

> Hope you enjoyed!
> 
> Feel free to engage me in theories about this universe, haha, or write something about a different group of VKs and their reaction to King Ben's new policy.
> 
> Lots of love~


End file.
